Manipur MLA Attributes Increase in Hill Villages to Displacement and Other Factors

PTI, August 24, 2026, Imphal/Churachandpur : BJP MLA Paolienlal Haokip has said that the increase in the number of villages in the hill districts of Manipur is due to widespread displacement caused by the Naga-Kuki ethnic conflict of the 1990s and the creation of ghost villages to draw MGNREGS funds.

Haokip's comment came days after former chief minister N Biren Singh, after a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, said that as per government records, there are 926 unrecognised villages in the state.

In a late-night social media post on Friday, Haokip, the MLA of Saikot in Churachandpur district, said, "The increase in the number of villages in Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and some other hill districts is caused by displacement due to ethnic conflict from 1992 to 1995. Also, corrupt officials colluded with those who created ghost villages to draw MGNREGS funds."

He also attributed the increase in the number of villages to the "Kuki tradition of splitting villages to create new hamlets to be led by sons of tribal chiefs".

The Kuki-Naga ethnic conflict, which took place from 1992 to 1995, led to over 1,000 deaths and displacement of over 50,000 tribal people in the hill districts.

Kuki villagers in Naga-majority areas and vice versa fled to the respective area of dominance of their tribes for safety.

In another social media post on Saturday, Haokip claimed that the "abnormal decadal growth reported in the 2001 Census of over 100 per cent" in a district is not linked to immigration from Chin state in Myanmar but due to "fraudulent Census exercise".

The 2001 Census provisional data for Senapati district in the state showed an unusually high population growth exceeding 100 per cent in specific sub-divisions, leading to a major controversy.

"The abnormal decadal growth in population figures of some Naga-dominated sub-divisions is due to a fraudulent Census exercise. It should not be linked to possible decrease in population of Chin state in Myanmar, where military crackdown on movement for democracy has forced tens of thousands to seek refuge under UNHCR and have since been relocated in huge numbers to USA and some European countries," he said.

Manipur shares a 398-km international border with Myanmar.